Mono No Aware by Culak: Album Review

by Damien Reid November 21, 2022

November 21, 2022

Mono No Aware by Culak: Album Review

The existence of post-rock music has undoubtedly been trending, and the musicians who accompany such a soothing genre deserve a large amount of praise. Culak is one such artist, within that very genre, whose talent should not go unrecognized. This is especially the case with his “Mono No Aware” album. It is an 11-track journey that captures your soul with clean guitar notes and mysterious melodic passages.

From the opening number “All We Have”, I instantly knew Culak’s harmonizing ability. There is a very satisfying feeling when hearing the rhythm of guitar notes intertwining. Culak’s composition style ties in with math rock, and I just wanted to keep playing one track after another. The clean guitar notes sound almost meditative, and if you listen close enough a feeling of ‘zen’ can be harnessed. Tracks like “Ordinary Beauty” has a very dreamy aura to them. One minute your eyes are closed surrounded by a fantasy of synthesizer and guitars, and the next thing you wake up to the upbeat presence of the drums.

“Mono No Aware” is a beautiful piece of evidence that music should allow us to feel it first. The album is like a treasure for all indie/post-rock enthusiasts. With Culak’s calming voice gracing the songs, it feels like a tough burden being is being lifted from you. The ending track “All I Am” feels like a fitting way to say goodbye to the album, and the guitar strumming combined with atmospheric synths are responsible for it.